New Order: Depiction of Brutal Class Divide Propels Grim Mexican Thriller
ReviewJim SlotekNew Order, Michel Franco, TIFF 2020, Venice Film Festival, Naian González Norvind, Dario Yazbek Bernal, Mexico City, Mexican film, Spanish language, Dystopian stories, Thriller, Venice Silver Lion Award
Discriminator: A facial-recognition short doc that watches you watch it
ReviewJim SlotekFacial recognition, Digital privacy issues, Discriminator, Interactive movies, Brett Gaylor, RiP: A Remix Manifesto, Creative Commons licenses, The Internet of Everything, Yahoo/Flickr, Megaface directory, Online Tribeca Film Festival
The Dose: Darkly-comic Argentinian hospital thriller about dueling 'Angels of Death' walks a fine line
In The Heights: Family-Friendly Latino Musical Aims to Bring Audiences Back to the Movies
ReviewJim SlotekIn The Heights, Jon M. Chu, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton, musical, Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Dascha Polanco, Latino, Spanish, Marc Anthony, Melissa Barrera
Loki: Marvel's God of Mischief turns time-cop in a trippy mix of sci-fi influences
ReviewJim SlotekTom Hiddleston, Loki, Avengers, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney+, Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, Douglas Adams, Kate Herron, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Time paradox plots
A Perfect Enemy: A perfectly unsettling encounter with a stranger at the airport
ReviewJim SlotekPsychological thriller, Possibly imaginary characters, A Perfect Enemy, Strangers met while travelling, Kike Maíllo, Marta Nieto, Athena Strates, Amélie Nothomb, Tomasz Kot, Eva
Equal Standard: Well-Meaning BLM Cop Drama Loses the Thread
ReviewJim SlotekEqual Standard, Black Lives Matter, Ice-T, Brendan Kyle Cochran, Taheim Bryan, Tobias Truvillion, Syleena Johnson, Anthony “Treach” Criss, Cop drama, Racism, Drama
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It - Give Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson a TV series already!
ReviewJim SlotekEd and Lorraine Warren, Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, The Conjuring movies, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Fringe, John Noble, Annabelle, The Nun, Demonic possession as a murder defence, Ruairi O'Connor, Michael Chaves, The Curse of La Llorona, The Exorcist.
Undine: Christian Petzold’s Latest a Berlin Mermaid Tale Against the Current
ReviewJim SlotekUndine, Christian Petzold, Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen, Mermaids, Germany, Berlin, Berlin Film Festival, Fairytale
Spiral: Latest Installment in the SAW Horror Franchise at Once Faithful and Novel
ReviewJim SlotekSpiral, Saw, Darren Lynn Bousman, Franchise, Horror, Torture, Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nichols, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, Cop drama, Jigsaw, Serial killers, Tobin Bell
Toronto Jewish Film Festival: A Thematic Sense of Place Propels Latest (and Online) Installment
Review, PreviewJim SlotekToronto Jewish film festival, TJFF2021, Shelter, Ron Chapman, Online Festival, Summer of '85, Lune, Kiss Me Kosher, The Specials
Moby Doc: Novel Filmic Memoir of EDM Star and Vegan Activist Holds Nothing Back
The Real Thing: Japan’s Cannes Contender Follows the Needy Woman of Man’s Dreams
Cruella: Darkly fun fashion fable about a Disney-villain-in-training, with no dogs harmed - yet
ReviewJim SlotekMovie villains' back stories, Cruella de Vil, Cruella, 101 Dalmatians, Emma Stone, Emily Beecham, Tipper Seifert-Cleveland, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emma Thompson, he Devil Wears Prada, Jenny Beavan, Craig Gillespie, Movies set in the fashion world
Inside Out Festival 2021: Virtually exploring intimacy in a time of separation
Preview, ReviewJim SlotekInside Out Film Festival, Themes of intimacy during lockdown, 2SLGBTQ+ themes, Language Lessons, Natalie Morales, Mark Duplass, Sexplanation, Alex Liu, Fanny: The Right to Rock, Bloodthirsty, Israeli drama Two, Mama Gloria, Ma Belle, My Beauty, Being Thunder, Sherenté Harris, Summertime, Carlos López Estrada, A Distant Place, Park Kunyoung, Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor
Wrath Of Man: Jason Statham's Killer Rent-A-Cop Delivers Deadly Force… and Worse Dialogue
ReviewJim SlotekWrath of Man, Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham, English remake, Action\, Revenge thriler, Andy Garcia, Josh Hartnett, Scott Eastwood, Heist films
Bloodthirsty: Writing and recording pop music is a beastly business
ReviewJim SlotekWerewolf movies, Canadian horror movies, Films set in the music industry, Bloodthirsty, Amelia Moses, Lauren Beatty, Michael Ironside, Eccentric superproducers, Phil Spector, Ginger Snaps, Katharine King So, Greg Bryk, Judith Buchan, Wendy Hill-Tout, Lowell
The Retreat: Gory Revenge Horror Skirts Uncomfortably Close to Easy Exploitation
ReviewJim SlotekThe Retreat, Horror movies, Pat Mills, LGBTQ, Tommie-Amber Pirie, Sarah Allen, Rossif Sutherland, Celina Sinden, Lesbian, Gay, Torture
Drunk Bus: A Wintry Comedy Stuck In Some Uncomfortable Stereotypes
Strike A Pose: Doc Follows Dancers from Madonna’s Blond Ambition Tour After the Lights Dimmed
Review, PreviewJim SlotekStrike a Pose, Docuementary, Hot Docs, Ester Gould, Reijer Zwaan, Madonna, Music documentaries, 1990s, Jean Paul Gauthier, Truth or Dare
